Dorna (MotoGP) and Infront Sports (WSBK) are to battle over the exclusive rights to race at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain. Home to the Valencian GP, the venue has also played host to the World Superbike Championship since 2000. As one of the larger and most popular venues, the track is the cornerstone for both races series, and in one of the most fruitful motorcycle racing markets…and Dorna wants it all to itself.
According to the Italian magazine , Dorna is trying to levy the Valencia community circuit into not renewing its contract with Infront Sports, thus blocking WSBK from stopping at the popular track. This would then mean that World Superbike would have to consider a new venue, as leaving Spain off the calendar is simply not an option for the motorcycling event.
It’s not immediately clear why Dorna would want to block the contract renewal, since the races occur during different times in the season, and the Spanish motorcycling community has more than enough of an appetite for two major motorcycling events in Valencia. The best reason we’ve seen thus far on the alleged blocking may be due to the stink Infront Sports made over Moto2’s use of Honda sourced motors.
Time will tell how the contracts will fall, although we suspect we’ll still see WSBK at Valencia for many years to come. Oh the politics of racing never cease to amaze us.
Source: Motosprint via Two Wheels Blog
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